A former Langford construction company owner has been ordered to pay close to $1 million in damages for the repeated sexual assault of one of his employees, the BC Supreme Court ruled in a civil lawsuit Oct. 1.
In 2016, Kyle Mostowy, who owned and managed All Canadian Construction Ltd., was found guilty of sexually assaulting five of his employees between October 2010 and September 2011 and was sentenced to 36 months in prison. The woman behind the civil suit, identified as C.D., is one of those survivors.
C.D., 44 years old at the time, took a job as an office assistant with All Canadian Construction in the fall of 2010 out of desperation to support herself and her two children, according to findings from the criminal case. From her very first day, Mostowy started preying on C.D., first giving her unsolicited massages and then gradually over the weeks pressuring her to take off her clothes, let him touch her, and have her perform sexual acts on him.
C.D. repeatedly told Mostowy “no,” but feared fighting back too much because of how badly she needed the job, the criminal case found. “If his efforts to touch them in a sexual manner was rebuffed by a complainant …, he reacted in a negative manner making his displeasure known and causing the complainants to fear losing their employment.”
READ ALSO: Langford construction company owner charged with sexual assault
In the civil suit, C.D. claimed the sexual assaults left her with psychological and emotional trauma that has made it impossible for her to work. She said following the assaults her entire body was in pain and she began having suicidal thoughts. She got a breast reduction surgery out of fear of unwanted attention, began self-harming and moved in with her parents.
“She was constantly fearful and highly anxious, and she locked herself away. She would have panic attacks around men because she feared she might be further victimized,” C.D.’s testimony reads.
In her decision, Justice Veronica Jackson said she was satisfied the sexual assaults caused C.D.’s subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder. She awarded C.D. $157,500 for her pain and suffering, or non-pecuniary damages, and $824,400 for her lost past and future earning capacity.
Mostowy was also ordered to pay $3,308.43 to the Minister of Health for recovery of C.D.’s healthcare costs incurred as a result of the sexual assaults.
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